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World champion D Gukesh stayed in the hunt with a clinical endgame win in Round 10 of the Tata Steel Masters, while Arjun Erigaisi slipped to another defeat and slid down the standings at Wijk Aan Zee.
IMAGE: India’s D Gukesh delivered an endgame masterclass to record a win. Photograph: Tata Steel Chess/X
India’s top-rated chess player Arjun Erigaisi could not match the skills of Vincent Keymer of Germany in key moments and crashed to another defeat in the 10th round of Tata Steel Masters in Wijk Aan Zee, The Netherlands.
World champion D Gukesh fought his way back into contention, delivering an endgame masterclass against young prodigy Yagiz Kaan Erdogmus. Playing with the black pieces, Gukesh secured another clinical victory to take his tally to a respectable five points out of a possible 10.
Key Points
- R Praggnanandhaa settled for a draw with Hans Moke Niemann.
- Matthias Bluebaum of Germany continued with his great form to beat Anish Giri.
However, the Indian ace will need an exceptional performance in the final three rounds if he is to truly stamp his authority as world champion.
Erigaisi had been on the cusp just a few days ago but seemed to lose the thread midway, and now finds himself firmly in the lower half of the points table. With just four points from 10 games, the highest-ranked Indian has plenty of ground to make up merely to stay afloat.
A positional blunder in the closed Ruy Lopez is often unforgivable, and that was precisely Erigaisi’s undoing. Vincent Keymer was quick to pounce, and from that point on there was no looking back for the German, who himself has endured a mixed tournament so far.
Meanwhile, R Praggnanandhaa settled for a draw with Hans Moke Niemann in a French Defence encounter, a game in which neither player found much scope for complications.
Praggnanandhaa’s surprise French Defense Rubinstein Variation may have caused some eyebrows in elite circles because the young Indian is trying different things ahead of the much awaited Candidates tournament.
The opening did not give much away and Niemann was surprised enough not to go all out with his white pieces. The end result was peaceful as both players exchanged pieces at regular intervals to reach a perfectly-level rook-and-pawns endgame.
Matthias Bluebaum of Germany continued with his great form to beat Anish Giri after defeating Gukesh in the previous round, while Jorden van Foreest of Holland played out a draw with Javokhir Sindarov as both added to their overnight tally to reach six points.
Results – Round 10: Matthias Bluebaum (Ger, 6) beat Anish Giri (Ned, 4.5); Hans Moke Niemann (Usa, 5.5) drew with R Praggnanandhaa (Ind, 4.5); Vincent Keymer (Ger, 5) beat Arjun Erigaisi (Ind, 4); Jordan van Foreest (Ned, 6) drew with Javokhir SIndarov (Uzb, 6); Aravindh Chithambaram (Ind, 2.5) playing Thai Dai Van Nguyen (Cze, 3); Nodirbek Abdusattorov (Uzb, 6) playing Vladimir Fedoseev (Slo, 4.5); Yagiz Kaan Erdogmus (Tur, 5.5) lost to D Gulesh (Ind, 5).
